Morning in Castle Wayland began with me forcing Loran, the Count’s head master, to remeasure the same part six times. Loran was a sturdy man. But...
"Master Iron, with all due respect, this is just mockery!" Loran slammed a heavy caliper onto the workbench. "Why such precision for a damn lift? Magic will compensate for the play anyway."
I stood there, leaning heavily on my cane.
"That’s exactly the problem—you’re used to blaming everything on magic." I walked to the workbench and picked up the part.
I activated Lumon. A grid overlaid my vision. The system highlighted irregularities on the steel surface in red.
"Look here," I pointed to a barely visible roughness. "See these streaks? The cutter was vibrating. Your apprentice was in a hurry. Friction here will be three times higher than calculated."
"Who’s even going to see that?" Loran grumbled, but he took the part and began examining it closely.
I will, for one, I thought.
"Get to work. I need all twenty gears fitted by evening as if they were cast from a single mold. And Loran—use the oil I prepared yesterday. Save the boar fat for the kitchen; we need high viscosity here."
Well. Loran and his men were now chained to their benches for the next twelve to fourteen hours. Now I could attend to my own business.
Returning to my chambers, I first locked the door, sat at the table, and unfolded the map I had "borrowed" from the archive.
Dornheim. Entry Point #1.
If this schematic was to be believed, my village sat on some kind of strategic node. But the castle... it didn't stand here for no reason. Looking at the topography, I realized: under this foundation weren't just cellars.
"Lumon, update foundation scan data," I whispered.
[Object detected. Depth: 42 meters. Geometric margin of error: less than 0.001%. Wall material does not match known formations of this region.]
I began packing my bag. A pneumatic cutter, a compressed gas cylinder I had secretly filled in the workshop, a couple of smoke bombs—a mixture of alchemical sulfur and saltpeter I’d mixed myself. And, of course, my pistol.
"Are you really going down there?" Noah stepped out of the shadows.
"As much as I’d rather not, for our own safety, I have to."
"There are more guards there than in the treasury," he clipped. "Judging by their stance and equipment, they aren't ordinary men."
"Just distract them. You can even kill them, doesn't matter."
"Finally, a proper task." Noah stretched slightly and instantly vanished.
Castle Wayland turned into a labyrinth of whispers and drafts at night. Elyria led me through ventilation shafts and old technical passages.
We descended lower and lower.
The smell of damp stone and mold gradually changed to something else. The air became dry, cold, and... somehow sterile.
"We’re close," Elyria whispered. Her greenish light was the only guide in this blackness. "The magic here... is strange."
We entered a small corridor. The walls here were made of some smooth composite.
A massive bulkhead door loomed before us. A circle in the center and a thin seam line.
"Lumon, analyze lock."
[Mechanical locking mechanism detected. Type: Hydraulic seal. Requires fluid delivery under 140 bar pressure into three intake ports.]
I pulled out my pneumatic cutter and an adapter Loran had machined (he thought it was a part for an irrigation system).
The connection took five minutes. As I began pumping gas, a rising hiss broke the silence of the corridor. The door shuddered. Something thudded dully inside.
The slab moved silently aside.
We stepped inside, and I froze.
A vast hall, its ceiling lost in darkness. And columns. Hundreds of perfectly black columns stretching in rows into the distance. Faint blue discharges jumped between them, and the air hummed with static electricity.
"What... is this?" Elyria approached one of the columns, not daring to touch it.
"It’s a server room," the words escaped me. "Or some kind of control node."
I walked deeper into the hall. My brain feverishly tried to process what I was seeing.
Then I saw it.
In the center of the hall stood wooden tables. On them—piles of parchment, alchemical retorts, and... cages.
I walked closer. Along the walls, in special niches, hung glass flasks filled with a murky liquid. Inside them were...
"Mages," Elyria breathed.
Copper needles stretched from their heads, connected to ports on the black columns. Their bodies were emaciated, their eyes rolled back.
I grabbed one of the journals lying on a table.
"Day 142. Mana consumption is growing exponentially. The Collegium Magisters burn out quickly. The system demands more. But the main problem—the Central Node does not respond. Control Key required. Key signature detected at Location #1 (Dornheim)."
"Iron," Elyria spun toward the door. "We have guests."
"Wasn't Noah supposed to distract them?"
Footsteps echoed from above.
"Leaving! Fast!" I grabbed the journal and bolted for the exit.
We barely managed to slip out of the hall before the heavy slab settled back into place. I feverishly bled the pressure, ripping out the tubes.
The run through the ventilation felt like an eternity. My lungs burned, the cane was an obstacle, and the words from the journal hammered in my head like a drum.
When we burst into my chambers, I collapsed into a chair, unable even to pull off my boots.
"Dealing with Wayland is dangerous," I wheezed.
"But dammit, he’s the only one who can protect Dornheim right now. A dilemma: either kill the Count and start a war we’ll clearly lose, or become his ally. Both options are complete shit."
"You heard it: he needs the Key," Noah said.
"You, shut up. Why the hell did you let the guards through? I told you clearly."
"I didn't let anyone through. I killed a couple and just put the rest to sleep. It was likely people who were running late, or staying for what you call a 'night shift'."
"...Maybe," I said, looking at the map of Dornheim.
A knock came at the door.
"Master Iron?" Walter’s voice. "His Excellency invites you for morning coffee. He wishes to discuss the lift blueprints... and something else."
I quickly hid the journal under the mattress, calling out:
"Coming, Walter. Tell the Count I have a few ideas on how to optimize the power consumption of his... projects."
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter